USA Today: The shortstops: Nomar, Jeter, A-Rod were long on talent

Flaherty: Nudnik of the Northeast.

John Flaherty, former big-league catcher in his fifth season as a broadcaster for the YES Network, came up through the Boston Red Sox system ahead of Garciaparra and now sees Jeter and Rodriguez on a regular basis. He remembers well the discussions in the clubhouse similar to those among fans who debated the merits of the three stars.

“(Players would say) Alex might have the best all-around ability of the three — the fielding, the power, the tools scouts would see,” Flaherty says. “But then you’d go in a different direction: Who would you want on your team? Who would you want up in a big spot? Kind of throw the tools and talent out and the competition starts coming. You’d start thinking about Derek and Nomar.”

Each was different when it came to working them behind the plate.

“Nomar went up there, and you knew the first thing he saw he would let it fly,” Flaherty says. “He could do some damage on the first pitch of an at-bat. There was no trying to set him up. He wasn’t going to give you a strike. He was going to be very aggressive and, in Fenway, create a lot of damage.

“Derek’s the same way — very aggressive. He’s not going to hurt you as much (with power), but in a big spot you really had to be careful.

“Alex was more patient. He would try to work into a hitter’s count, so you could try to jump ahead, get strike one, then go to work.”